By HECTOR CASTRO, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A King County sheriff's deputy who shot a man to death in November had reason to fear for the safety of others when he did so, an inquest jury found Wednesday.

Mark Prince, 44, was shot dead Nov. 18 at the Wellington Place Apartments in Burien. Neighbors had called 911 after seeing Prince step out onto the balcony of his apartment to fire several shots from a handgun.

An inquest into Prince's death was held this week in King County District Court before Judge Linda Thompson.

According to testimony, one of the deputies who responded that evening was Deputy Juan Gil, who carries an AR-15 rifle. Prince's girlfriend told arriving deputies that her boyfriend had been drinking heavily and had access to several firearms in the apartment.

Negotiators tried to contact Prince both by loudspeaker and by calling into the apartment. But he did not respond to any of their attempts to reach him.

At one point, Gil obtained permission to enter a nearby apartment with a window overlooking Prince's deck. The deputy used the window sill as a perch for his rifle.

He watched as Prince walked onto his balcony and fired at least one shot from a rifle. Then, later, the deputy saw Prince come out again onto the balcony carrying a semiautomatic handgun.

By that time, according to testimony, there were several deputies and other bystanders in the area.

The six-member inquest jury found that at that point, Gil had reason to believe Prince posed a threat of death or serious bodily injury to those people.

Gil fired a single shot from his rifle and saw Prince stumble backward into the apartment.

It took several hours before a SWAT team entered the apartment. They found Prince already dead, slumped over a living room recliner. Nearby, deputies found a semiautomatic handgun that had been fired and was cocked and ready to fire again.

Investigators later found two shotguns in Prince's apartment.

Now that the inquest is complete, the King County Sheriff's Office will conduct its own internal review of the shooting to determine whether Gil followed department policy, Sgt. John Urquhart said.